Chapter 18: Loose Ends

It is pleasant this time of morning, even on the road. The rural highways are bare right after sunrise, before the morning traffic starts. I sit in the passenger seat of my Camaro, trying very hard to keep from starting a conversation. It isn't as if I have any hostility toward Dean. Maybe subconsciously, I don't know. My shoulder is still hurting and making me uncomfortable, so I don't feel much like talking.

"How's your shoulder?" Dean finally asks.

"It hurts like hell, but thanks to Sam, not nearly as bad as it could be. He's good with sutures, scary good."

"Yeah, he's had a lot of practice lately. I'm sure as hell grateful for it too."

"Sounds like the jobs have been rough, huh?"

"Try prison."

"What? Don't tell me you guys got caught for that shifter thing."

"On purpose. A friend needed help with this spirit and-"

"This 'friend' was a prisoner?"

"A guard, thankfully. That's how we got back out, more or less."

"That's insane, even for hunters."

"Yeah, well, it's what you do for friends. By the way, what have you been doing?"

"Oh, since the one time you called, not much."

I did not mean that to come out nearly as harsh as it did.

"Sorry, I didn't-" I start.

"No, I get it. I could have called more. It's been a while-"

"Three weeks."

"And this is a dangerous gig, for sure. But I think you're missing a point here."

"Which is?"

"Communication's a two-way street."

"Touché," I say with a grin.

"So, are we good?"

"Yeah, we're good."

We spend the rest of the two-hour drive catching up and, after that, just talking. I make sure to steer clear of any topics relating to my visions. Dean tells me about the hunts he and Sam have been on since our escapade with the Addonexus. When he gets to the story about the djinn, things get a little confusing. I hate djinns for exactly that reason, dealing with them is messy business. We manage to follow the Impala across the two neighboring towns without any problems, courtesy of the rural roads. Sam stops the Impala near a farm on the outskirts of the second town.

"And we know this is where the rest of the pack is...how?" I ask as we pull up behind the Impala.

"The second night we were in Lincoln, we overheard the other wolves mention holding a family hostage a couple towns over. Sam had time to look up missing persons reports in the areas around Lincoln before we went back for those wolves the next night. It's kind of rare for an entire family to go missing all at once. We figured the best place to start was their farm."

We both step out of the Camaro and walk up to Sam.

"This is a big farm, I doubt the wolves went far," I say, looking out at the farm. "There are plenty of places to hide a family on this acreage."

"That's what I was thinking," Sam says.

"Do we know how many we're dealing with?"

"Not a clue," Dean says.

"Great," I say. "Then our best chance is to draw them out, away from the family and into the open, where they're vulnerable."

"That sounds like an awesome plan and all. Are we just going to walk up and ask them to come out in the open?" Dean teases.

I look around for a moment, then it hits me.

"That's exactly what we're going to do."

The wood farmhouse looks vacant as I limp down the driveway. I did not blame Dean when he said this plan was insane. It is, but, sometimes, insane works. I reach the maroon front door hoping that these wolves are as unsuspecting as the ones in Lincoln. I start banging on the front door as loudly as I can.

"Excuse me, but I just crashed my car into your electric pole. I took the corner too fast, I'm hurt pretty bad. I just need a phone to call for help, mine died. Please, I'm really hurt," I say, trying to make my voice weak.

I cradle my left arm, just in case they look outside before opening the door. There is no response right away, but I soon hear shuffling behind the door. A tall man opens the door inward.

"Thank you," I mutter.

"Oh, don't thank me yet, young miss," he says.

His eyes change color as he takes a step forward. I step backwards a step, still trying to maintain my cover.

"What are you doing?"

"A young girl should be careful whose door she knocks on, especially when she's alone."

He continues to approach and I continue to maintain the same distance from him. He reaches toward me with one hand. The long nails coupled with the eye color are a dead give away, this man is a werewolf. Good, I just had to be certain of that before doing anything else.

"Wha-what are you?"

He smiles, revealing his long canines.

"Some would say a monster."

He continues to reach for me. I pray for speed as I grab my knife from my belt and slash upwards, into his arm. He jerks it back, taken by surprise. I do not give him time to recover, I slam my weight into him, driving the silver knife upwards into his chest. Thankfully, he doesn't make a sound as he goes down. Pain shoots up my shoulder from the sudden movement. I wince as I place my knife back in my belt and draw my gun.

I stagger back up to the door, watching as Sam and Dean go around the sides of the house. I walk through the front door, moving cautiously around the corners inside the house. That wolf must have been the lookout because the small house is empty. I come out the back door, meeting up with Sam and Dean. Dean points to footprints in the muddy ground. Sam and I nod, all of us following the trail as quietly as we can. The trail leads us around a large barn and through a small patch of plants, where it stops near a ramshackle shed. Grass surrounds the shed, causing us to lose sight of any footprints. I look at the arrangement of farming tools inside the shed and have another idea. I motion for Sam and Dean to clear out. They hide on the other side of the shed and I go to work. I wiggle a loose peg from the wall, which drops an entire shelf of metal tools to the ground. Any werewolf within a mile would have heard that. I continue to face the inside of the shed, my back to the rest of the farm. I keep my gun close and out of sight. A few minutes pass before I hear someone approaching from behind me.

"What do you think you're doing! This is private property!"

I turn around to face the man, still keeping my gun close.

"Oh, I'm sorry, am I trespassing?" I ask.

I can't tell if this man is a werewolf. These seem to be purebloods we're dealing with, which means they can change any time they want.

"Who are you?" he grumbles.

"Devin Riley, I'm from the paper," I say, extending my hand. "I'm terribly sorry about the shed."

He takes my hand, hesitantly, to shake it. As soon as his skin comes in contact with my silver ring, he hisses and jerks his hand back in pain.

"Hunter!" he growls, his physical appearance changing.

I pull my gun and he freezes.

"Where are they?" I demand.

"You'll never find them," he growls, lunging at me.

A gun goes off twice, but it isn't mine. The werewolf staggers backwards and falls, dead.

"Come on," Dean says, walking back toward the large barn. "He came from over here."

As we approach the barn, I start to hear a soft noise coming from inside the barn. As we get closer, the noise starts to sound more like a voice. All three of us rush to the barn doors when we hear a child's voice yelling for help.

"Wait," Sam says as we stop in front of the doors. "It could be a trap."

"It probably is a trap, but we can't leave those kids in there with the werewolves," I say. "You said there were two young kids, right? A son and a daughter?"

"Yeah…"

"Plus the parents, that's four of them and three of us. I hope to God there aren't seven werewolves in there."

"Your point?" Dean asks.

"Assuming there aren't at least seven werewolves in there, we outnumber them. They can't fight the three of us and hold the family hostage at the same time. So, we go in there and distract the werewolves to give the family time to escape."

"It could work," Sam says.

"Doesn't mean it will," Dean says.

"What other choice do we have?"

Sam and Dean push open the massive doors of the barn as far back as they will go on the tracks. The inside of the barn floods with light, leaving only a few corners in the dark. A little girl sits in the middle of the barn, her hands tied together. Her face is red and swollen from crying, and her clothes are torn and dirty. I approach her slowly, keeping a hand on my knife. When I go to crouch down to her level, I hear a shuffling of feet from one of the dark corners. I stand back up just as a woman slams into me full-force. I stumble backwards and fall on my back, the werewolf pinning me to the ground. My shoulder explodes with pain, but I can't focus on it. Out of the corner of my eye, I see another werewolf, a man, run toward the girl. Before he can reach her, Dean tackles him to the ground.

"Sam! Get them out of here!" Dean yells.

The werewolf on top of me looks up at the girl and starts to get up, but I grab her arm and cut into it with my knife. Her attention snaps back to me. With one arm, she drags me across the barn floor. I see Sam run to the little girl.

"Where's your family?" he asks.

She points to the back of the barn and Sam picks her up, carrying her to where she pointed.

The werewolf stops dragging me and picks me up by my throat. I hit at her hands with all my strength, but she's too strong. She forces me against one of the wood pillars, squeezing my neck tighter until I can't breathe. I kick her in the knees, but it only seems to make her angrier. As my vision starts to go blurry, I hear a gunshot close by. The werewolf drops me, grabbing at her shoulder. I fall to my knees as two more gunshots go off. The werewolf falls to the ground next to me, dead. I look up and see Dean holding his hand out. I take it and he helps me up.

"Was that all of them?" I ask, my voice slightly hoarse.

"I think so."

"Where's the family?"

"Sam got 'em out, they're safe. All four of them."

When we are halfway out of the barn, I hear a soft noise beside us. I shove Dean out of the way as another werewolf jumps out of the shadows. The werewolf tackles me to the ground, but I have just enough time to free my gun. I fire three silver rounds into his chest and he falls limply on top of me. Dean runs over and pushes the werewolf off of me, helping me up again.

"I think that was all of them," I say.

I stand in place for a moment, trying to catch my breath. Dean walks up beside me and places his arm under my left arm, supporting me at the waist. Together, we walk out of the barn. Sam is outside, talking to the family. Their clothes are dirty and tattered, but otherwise they look unharmed. A few cuts and bruises are visible on the two adults, but nothing that won't heal quickly. When Sam sees us his eyes widen and he walks over to us.

"Are you two okay?"

"Yeah, we'll be alright," Dean answers.

"Lara, your shoulder," Sam says.

It isn't until now that I notice the left shoulder of my shirt has been soaked through with blood.

"Damn werewolf tore my stitches," I say, angrily.

My voice is still hoarse, which makes Sam look at me with even more concern.

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I think I'm getting strangled on a bi-weekly basis. I should have built up a tolerance by now," I say, laughing.

A mistake, it hurts even more to laugh than it does to speak. Sam gives me a skeptical look as I cringe in pain.

"Yeah, you're 'fine'. Come on, we need to get back to the Impala. I told the family to call the cops, so we really shouldn't hang around," Sam says.

Dean helps me back to where we parked the cars. We drive down the road a little ways, until we are out of sight of any approaching emergency vehicles. I sit on the trunk of the Impala as Sam replaces some of the stitches that got torn in the fight. It hurts like hell, but at least I won't bleed to death.

"Still glad I told Dean you'd be good backup?" Sam asks.

I smile, trying not to move, "Actually, yes. We saved those people's lives, that's when the job feels worth it. Besides, it makes life a little more interesting."

"Getting attacked by werewolves makes life interesting?"

"It's sure better than afternoon soaps."

"Oh my God," Sam says, a sly smile spreading across his face. "You two sound just alike. No wonder you hit it off."

I'm not sure if my mouth actually falls open or I just feel like it does. Either way, Sam's words catch me completely off-guard. Heat rises in my cheeks, no doubt turning my face an embarrassing shade of red. Dean, who is still sitting in the front seat of the Impala, is oblivious to this conversation.

"How did-"

"He's my brother, I spend most of my time with him. I'd be more surprised if I didn't know. Dean isn't a people person, but he talks about you, a lot."

Sam finishes up the stitches and helps me down from the trunk.

"Thanks...for like the fourth time now."

"Lara, I'm glad that you and Dean...he needs someone, someone who knows the life. I'm glad it's you," Sam says with a genuine smile.

As if on cue, Dean gets out of the Impala. Sam continues to walk to the front of the car, getting in the passenger side. Dean looks at his brother in confusion for a second, then shrugs and continues toward me.

"I was just about to ask when you two were going to be done, but…"

I grab the front of his shirt, pulling him closer to me, and kiss him. For a second I can tell he is surprised, but then I feel him place his hand gently on my back as he leans into the kiss. It's nice for all of my pain and worries to fade, even if it is only for a few moments.

"Wow, that was-" Dean finally says when we separate.

"Unexpected?" I finish.

"I was going to say 'awesome', but, yeah, 'unexpected' works too."

We both smile.

"So, what're you going to do now?" Dean asks.

"Go back to Mike's, let my shoulder heal up a bit. Then, probably more of the same. What about you two?"

"The usual, drive around until we find another case."

"Don't get into too much trouble without me."

"Yeah, that'll happen," Dean says sarcastically.

He kisses me again, quickly, before walking back to the front of the Impala.

"Get better," he calls back to me, getting in the Impala.

"Will do," I respond before turning back to my Camaro.

As I watch them drive away, I start to realize that, despite everything, out of all the hunters Mike could have called to help me with that demon case in Florida, I'm glad it was the Winchesters.

A/N: I'm trying to get better at updating, so this chapter was a little shorter. The next one probably won't be. Thanks again for sticking with me.